A New World
by Kookie the Bard
Summary: While on a special assignment, the Toa Mahri are transported to a mysterious and new location. They have many questions: Where are they, and perhaps more importantly, how can they get back home? Things don't always go as expected, though... (I don't own Bionicle or Avatar: The Last Airbender.)
1. Chapter 1: Selected

**A/N: This is my first fan-fiction. I hope you like it.**

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><p>1<p>

Hewkii woke with a start, breathing heavily. He put his hands on his mask. _Another nightmare, _he thought. He'd been plagued by these dreams ever since he had settled down after the defeat of Makuta Teridax. They seemed to highlight the darkest parts of the adventures he and his friends had recently experienced. The Piraka, the Barraki, the Skakdi-Fusion, and more.

Even Matoro...

He looked out his window to find that it was early morning. He was already quite awake and decided he wouldn't try to sleep any more. It would be pointless to try. He stepped out his door and took in the sights he saw every morning. Grass, sunlight, trees, other houses, and _stone_. Beautiful, decorative stone all around his house (courtesy of himself). He took a deep breath and headed into town. There was always work that needed to be done around the growing village where the Toa Mahri were stationed. The new council of Turaga and Agori elders had decided to call it _New Stelt_, despite the negative reputation of its namesake.

The town was located about three kio west of New Atero and was now home to around 4000 Matoran and Agori. The Toa Mahri and Turaga Whenua had been sent here to lead and guard it as it grew.

Hewkii stepped into the small town hall building where the job board was. He, along with a few other Matoran and Agori, scanned its contents, seeing which jobs he was best suited for. _Practically all of them_, he thought. He noticed a construction job on the south side of town and knew that would be the perfect thing to start with. When he was about halfway to the job site, someone came running behind him, shouting his name. He stopped and turned only to have Kongu slam into him.

"Sorry, Toa-brother," said Kongu as they stood after the collision. He used twin gusts of air to free their armor of dust. "Haven't quite got the hang of my wind-assisted foot-running yet."

"What's this about, Kongu?" Hewkii asked rather grumpily.

"This is about the Toa-team getting assigned to safe-guard the Ignika at the shrine this week. Brutaka himself specifically requested us." Kongu was obviously proud of the offer.

"But I was just on my way to—"

"There's no time for that! We need to go over there now. The others are already on their quick-way and we are standing here bickering about your petty day-to-day doings! Let's _go_! This is exciting!"

"Maybe I don't want to have the exciting job for once!" Hewkii blurted out. Kongu looked confused. "I like my 'petty day-to-day doings', okay? Maybe for one day, I could just live my life-like it was before I was a Toa."

Kongu was a bit downcast. "I suppose I can't force you to come, if that's how you feel, brother." He started walking away. "See you in a week."

Hewkii stood still, thinking. He could just go on, do his normal job, and not go to the shrine. If he left New Stelt now, he would miss that boat ride he and Maku had planned to go on tomorrow. But if he didn't go...? What would his team think of him then? What would _everyone _think of him for ignoring his duty?

No. He must be a good role model to all. Ignoring one of the key virtues of their culture would destroy his reputation, which would harm more people than just himself. People would start to get the wrong ideas about Toa…

"Kongu!" he called, catching up to the Toa of air. "I'm going to the shrine, but you go on without me. I need to leave a message for a friend first."

"Sounds great, Toa-brother," Kongu replied with a smile, giving Hewkii a solid fist-bump. "I'll save a rock steed for you at the stables while you talk to Maku."

Hewkii didn't ask how Kongu knew he was going to Maku and just shook his head before running off to her house.

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><p>Jaller checked behind his shoulder for the 57th time since they'd left New Stelt. "Where are they?" he muttered. He, Hahli, and Nuparu had slowed their rock steeds to a walk to give their brothers time to catch up.<p>

"I'm sure they're on their way, Jaller," said Hahli. "They wouldn't abandon us." A few seconds after she said these words, they heard the distant sounds of something running through grass. They all checked behind their respective shoulders now to see a Toa mounted on a rock steed rapidly approaching.

Kongu slowed his mount when he caught up to the other Toa. "Sorry to keep you long-waiting, brothers and sister," he said. "It took a bit of... convincing to get Hewkii to agree to this."

"But he _is _coming, right?" asked Nuparu.

"Sure. He just had to give a message to his lady-friend first." Hahli stifled a giggle at this. Nobody asked any questions. They simply rode on to their destination.

When Hewkii finally caught up to the other Toa, they had already reached the shrine, effectively having them all arrive at the same time. He had decided not to ride a rock steed, instead relying on his elemental power to tunnel through rock in the ground; much faster (and more comfortable, in his opinion) than the beast most beings used. He was warmly greeted by all and given time to rest and rejuvenate some of his elemental energy before they all headed into the shrine.

They had all been here before: once during its completion and again on another occasion like this one when they had been randomly selected to help guard it for a small amount of time. This time, though, it was not random. Brutaka, a high-ranking Order of Mata Nui member had specifically requested them this week. While all the Toa were still a bit suspicious of Brutaka because of his past deeds, they also knew that it was always a great honor to guard the resting place of Mata Nui himself. They walked through the halls, filled with ornate arches, pillars, and the like until they came to the lounge room where they were told they would meet—

"Axonn!" cried Kongu. "Good to see you, my giant-ax-wielding friend."

"Likewise, Toa of air," the mighty warrior replied. "Though I am a bit disappointed if my ax is all that identifies me to you."

"Well, I suppose I could also call you Battler of Fiends, Peacemaker, and Saver of Toa Backsides."

Axonn gave a hearty laugh before sweeping up all five Toa in a giant ash-bear hug. "I've missed you all," Axonn said, relaxing them. "Ah, Brutaka!" The Toa turned to see the blue and gold figure standing in the doorway. "Your team has arrived!"

"So I see," the other warrior said. He moved into the room. "Welcome, Toa Mahri. I'm so glad to have you here. The last few guardians we've had have been rather... unsatisfactory."

Nuparu noticed Brutaka's mask: he had an Olmak again. "How did you get your mask back, Brutaka?" he asked. "Last I heard, your Olmak was destroyed."

"It was. That mad Great Being we saved, however, was able to siphon out the power of the one Vezon had stolen and been fused with. He fashioned a new mask to hold the power. The new mask was given to me to replace my old one."

"There is no time for any more pleasantries," Axonn interjected. "We must get to business." Axonn set to assigning the Toa certain sections of the shrine to watch over. Once everyone had their areas mapped out, they all moved to them and began the slow work of keeping Mata Nui safe.

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><p>After a few days of keeping an eye out for nothing, Jaller was wearing thin. He'd patrolled his route outside the shrine time after time and had no action whatsoever. Even Nuparu had managed to be attacked by a crazy vorox.<p>

Bells began to ring. _The fire alarm! _He looked up to find smoke rising from the south-west side of the building. He ran inside to go help quell the flames.

He arrived in a matter of minutes to find Hahli dousing the flames. Jaller absorbed the rest and asked, "Where are the others?"

"Axonn is down," she replied, "and the other Toa are chasing after Brutaka."

"Brutaka? Why would they be chasing him?" She told him as they ran to catch up with their teammates. In short, Brutaka had knocked out Axonn from behind, grabbed the mask, started a decoy fire, and ran for it. On the way to help with the fire, however, the Toa had run into Brutaka. They had split up from there.

"... and that brings us to when you found me," Hahli finished. "Can you believe he would do a thing like this?"

"Absolutely," Jaller grimly replied.

"Same here." And they ran on.

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><p>Nuparu was elated when he saw his teammates finally catch up with him and the other Toa. "Glad you could make it," he said.<p>

"Glad to be here," Jaller said. "Now be quiet and let's chase down that son of a manas."

"With pleasure," Kongu said, giving the group a boost with a blast of wind.

In minutes, the Toa had caught up with the fleeing Brutaka. "Strike as one!" commanded Jaller. Kongu stopped his wind and all five Toa thrust forward with their respective elements. Brutaka, cradling his cloth-wrapped prize, expertly leapt and twisted in the air, effectively dodging every blast. When he came back to the earth, he did not continue fleeing.

"We should have known better than to trust you!" Jaller said to Brutaka as all the Toa came to a stop. "Once a traitor, always a traitor!"

"I'm touched, Toa of embers," Brutaka replied with a grin, cradling the Mask of Life. "After all I did to help save the world, to protect Mata Nui's spirit, you're still willing to fight me. Allow me to return the favor." He unleashed a wide burst of energy from his blade towards Jaller and his team. The five Toa all dove out the way. In that time, Brutaka had already started running again.

Jaller stood again and began racing after the thief. He would not let this being defile Mata Nui's residence! He launched a sustained blast of flame from his sword. Brutaka simply opened a portal and channelled it away. "Why don't you just use one of those to escape?" Jaller inquired. "You could already be thousands of kio away from here!"

"I don't need to," Brutaka replied, still running. "I have other plans."

The other four Toa Mahri had caught up with Jaller now. They were all throwing every elemental ability they had at Brutaka, and he deflected or sent away each attack. Even Hewkii's mask of gravity could not stop him: more concentration would be needed to create a strong enough force to stop Brutaka, and for that he would have to stop running.

Brutaka finally sighed and said, "I tire of this chase. You five are very boring pursuers." After that, several things happened very quickly: Brutaka activated his Olmak, but just as he did, Hewkii sent a rock at his face. Brutaka was so concentrated on opening the dimensional gate, he did not deflect the stone projectile. It collided with his mask, damaging it.

A large portal in front of the pursuing team and sent them all away. Brutaka cursed. He'd intended to send them to a small pocket dimension he'd discovered a short time ago, but with the mask damaged, he had no way of knowing where the Toa Mahri had gone. _No matter,_ he thought. _Just another problem I won't have to deal with, I suppose._

_To be continued..._

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><p><strong>AN: So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed it, and expect chapter 2 soon-ish. C&C very much appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2: Bondage

2

Kongu lifted his head from the ground, sand sliding off of his mask. "Well, that little sneak-trick never fails old Brute, does it?" He looked around at his teammates in the bright sunlight to find that they were all still unconscious. He grunted at their inattention and got to his feet. He moved to Nuparu and kicked him in the side. "Get up, earthbones!"

The Toa of earth woke with a start and sat up quickly. He looked around them and asked, "Where in Spherus Magna are we?"

"How should I know? We just got quick-sent through an inter-dimensional portal thingy. We could be anywhere! We might not even be _on _Spherus Magna anymore."

Nuparu nodded. "True enough. Let's wake the others and figure out what we're going to do." Together, the two Toa accomplished the task in moments and the assembled Toa Mahri stood in a small circle, ready to discuss their plan of action.

"Let's go over what we know," began Nuparu. "First, Brutaka sent us through a dimensional gate. Second—"

"It is very hot," Kongu interrupted.

Nuparu looked slightly put off at the interruption. "While you are right, that is not what I was going to say." He resumed his list. "Second, we are in a desert."

"That's not very different from what I said," Kongu put in.

"Actually, it's very different, Kongu."

"How? We're in a desert, and deserts are hot. Same thing."

"Not all the time. I'm sure the others will agree with me that your assumption is wrong," Nuparu said firmly, crossing his arms.

"No, I agree with Kongu, actually," said Hahli.

Nuparu was getting a bit frustrated now. "Jaller?"

"I have to agree; Kongu makes a good point," the Toa of fire replied.

Nuparu sighed, hand on mask. "Hewkii?"

"I'm on your side, scholar. I lived in the desert during my life on Mata Nui. It may have been hot in the day, but it sure got cold at night," Hewkii said.

"There, see? Being in a desert is not the same thing as it being hot," Nuparu said triumphantly.

"Fine," said Kongu. "Allow me to amend my earlier speak-statement: we are in a desert _while the sun is out_, and it is hot."

Nuparu, quite annoyed, looked to Hewkii. "Can't argue with that," the Toa of stone said.

Nuparu couldn't take this. "Can we _just_ move on, please? What do we plan on doing here in this _desert_ that is very _hot_?" At this, all thoughts of how heat and deserts were related were dropped and the Toa looked to Jaller.

"Well, ah, we can't stay in one place obviously," Jaller began. "We'll need to move to survive. I assume Hewkii can help us to last in the desert for awhile."

"I'll do my best," Hewkii confirmed.

"Good. Now all we need to do is pick a direction to travel."

"North," Kongu voted.

"Why north?" asked Hahli.

"Because Metru Nui and Mata Nui Island were on the north end of the Mata Nui robot, and we came from those places. That means good things come from the north. So we should go north."

"I see… Any objections?" asked Jaller. There were none. "North it is. Let's go."

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><p>After hours of walking, the Toa were desperate for water. Hahli had done her best to draw water from the air around her and managed to get a small drop of water, which she divided five equal ways among them. After that, she had nothing to work with, and her armor took on a grayish tone. They walked on until nightfall when finally they all lay down at the base of a sand dune.<p>

Kongu lifted his arm and said, "This Toa of Air is hard-beat. Who knew that after all those encounters with enemy-villains, the thing that brought Kongu down was _nature_!" The others were too tired to voice their agreement.

Nuparu lifted his head and looked at the moon behind the top of the dune. It was quite beautiful…

But wait. There was something else atop the sandy hill. "Guys, what is that?" he said, pointing at the obstruction.

Only Hewkii mustered up the energy to look. "Looks like... a cactus. We had lots of those back in Po-Koro."

"Didn't they have water in them?"

"They did..." At these few encouraging words, Nuparu was instantly at his feet and scrambling up the dune. He drew his blade and slashed open the cactus. He (carefully) held part of the cactus and drank the greenish liquid inside.

"Delicious!" he cried. "Surprisingly thirst-quenching..."

Hewkii had managed to join him at the cactus. "Don't drink it all, dry-bones." He took the cactus from Nuparu and drank from it. "You're right, this is good. Nice find, Nuparu..." Hewkii turned to look at his friend only to find him sprawled on the ground and staring at the moon.

"Hewkii..." the Toa of Earth said, "when did Pewku get on the moon?"

Hewkii was a bit disturbed by this question. He looked at the moon and saw the shining white disc replaced by Gali's kanohi Kaukau. He flopped heavily on the sand and began to converse with Gali when he wasn't giggling uncontrollably.

"What in Mata Nui's name are they doing?" asked Jaller.

Hahli looked up at her two brothers. "Laughing… babbling… who knows?" She dropped again. "I'm too tired to care."

"Hey guys," said Nuparu, sounding quite insane, "remember that Tuma guy we heard about on Spherus Magna? I wonder if he was always eating _tuma_ch! HA!"

"Oh, Mata Nui…" grumbled Kongu.

"Nonono," Nuparu broke in. "He was too busy getting ready _tuma_rch off to battle!"

"Make them stop," Jaller said weakly.

"Can't," replied Hahli. "Too tired…"

"You know what I'm gonna say to Tahu next time I see him?" said Hewkii. "_Hau_ are you doing? Heeeheeheeheehee!"

"I like giant fruit too…" Nuparu said in return.

And with that, the five Toa slowly fell into sleep, the deep embrace of which forbade them from noticing the cloth-wrapped strangers that rode toward them on skiffs…

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><p>When Jaller woke, mouth still painfully dry, his wrists had been chained above his head to a wooden post. As he became more aware, he noticed more of his surroundings. The rest of his team was also bound to posts like he was. They seemed to be in a small town and on a raised wooden platform. There was a crowd of strange beings that appeared to be entirely organic and wore no armor in front of the platform. One such being with some fuzzy substance covering the front of his mask-less face was speaking loudly to crowd. He was walking by Jaller now…<p>

"And look here!" he said, gesturing to the Toa of fire. "A fine red beauty, isn't he? Very strong, very loyal. And look at that armor; surely it could withstand the mightiest of blows! He would make a fine bodyguard for any man! As would any other out of the group, I am sure. Do I hear a gold piece…?" It was then that Jaller realized what was happening: he and his team were being auctioned off as slaves.

And that was something Jaller would not stand for.

"I am no one's slave!" the proud Toa cried. "Who are you to keep us here?" He was already working on burning through his bonds.

The man looked shocked, but recovered quickly. "I am Cranin, High Slaver of the Earth Kingdom. I have captured you and your companions; you are mine to sell. Now be quiet, lest you face my whip." Jaller saw no whip on the man. What a joke this being was!

"High Slaver, huh? I bet you made that up right now, didn't you?" This angered the man further.

Cranin turned to the audience again. "I suppose some of these may still need to be taught respect." With that, he moved his arms with a strange vigor and the sand around him formed into a whip in his waiting hands. He looked at Jaller with hate, but Jaller also noticed a small measure of fear.

_Perfect…_

As Cranin swung his sand-whip, Jaller finally finished burning through his bonds. He dove and attempted to roll under the man, but was too large and simply knocked him down. Jaller was the first to rise and reached for his blade to find it missing. _Of course it is; they wouldn't leave us armed._ He took a few steps back from Cranin, preparing to fight again. He couldn't take the man now; it had to be a fair fight.

As the man got to his feet warily, people in the audience started to clear out. Cranin looked at Jaller with a snarl. "Look, you're driving away all my customers! I don't know what you are, but you shall pay! Nobody dishonors Cranin!" He swung his whip at Jaller, who raised a great wall of fire that instantly turned it to glass. Cranin gasped and watched as most of his weapon fell to the ground. He looked back up to find Jaller pass through the flames and approach him now. Cranin panicked: he wildly tossed up a large burst of sand into Jaller's mask, making the Toa cough and spit. Cranin back away quickly, gaining time and his breath.

_How is this being manipulating the sand? _Jaller wondered to himself. _Is he a Toa? Surely not; he has no armor, and he looks nothing like us. So how-?_

All further thoughts were interrupted by a huge wave of hot sand blocking out the sun and threatening to engulf the Toa. Jaller knew that another wall of flame like the one he'd used earlier would do him more harm than good, so he simply raised his arms above him and prepared for impact.

Suddenly, the top of the wave whipped backwards, falling towards it source. Jaller heard Cranin cry out in fear, but the wave simply washed around him. _This is a cowardly being if ever I saw one._

But Cranin's cowardice did not explain the movement of the wave. Jaller looked around for a clue while Cranin recovered. The Toa of fire noticed that one of his brothers was awake. "Hewkii! Was that you?" he asked, approaching the Toa of stone.

"It was, and now you owe me," he replied.

"Will setting you free count?" Jaller asked as he set about doing just that.

"It most certainly will not. I need something more… special." Hewkii's chains fell away.

"Let's worry about repayment later and free out the rest of the team." The two Toa moved to carry out the plan, but stopped at Cranin's cry of fury behind them. "You go, I'll—"

Hewkii put his hand on Jaller's shoulder. "Not this time, brother. You've had enough fun for now. I'll handle this one." Jaller nodded and moved to the posts.

Hewkii stepped off the platform to face the slaver on equal ground. They stood facing each other, neither moving. Then Cranin moved his arms again, preparing what was sure to be another massive attack. Nothing Hewkii wouldn't be able to handle, but he thought he'd end this now. He moved quicker than Cranin: he pointed one finger at Cranin's head and a whitish-brown beam of energy went from him to the slaver. At contact, a ball of stone with a hole for his face formed around the man's head. He struggled under its weight for a moment, all thought of attacking gone, but ultimately fell to the ground. "Curse you!" he cried in a sore attempt to retain some dignity. He tried to lift his head and failed. Hewkii started walking away, smiling. "You haven't seen the last of me!" the slaver called.

"Sure, sure," Hewkii called. "I'd expect no less stupidity from your kind." He finally turned away as Cranin started to use the sand around him to grind away the stone sphere.

As he mounted the stage once more, Jaller had just finished freeing the other Toa, all now awakened. "What's the plan, Jaller?" Hewkii asked.

"We should probably grab some supplies while we're in a town, maybe look for a map and transportation, then head out… somewhere," he replied, supporting the still weak Hahli.

"Right," said Nuparu. "Kongu, come with me to find provisions. The rest of you, find… the other stuff." With that, the team split up.

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><p>The five Toa met on the outskirts of town about an hour later. Plenty of supplies had been gathered, but no map or transportation had been found. "We've got to head out anyway. This town is too dangerous," Jaller said.<p>

Kongu chuckled. "Nothing we can't handle, obviously."

"Even so, people here clearly don't like us. Are we in agreement?"

Most of the Toa nodded, but Hahli spoke up: "Actually, there's something I need to mention."

"Of course, Hahli. Go ahead," Jaller replied.

"I found a small underground cave a short distance away from that platform we were on earlier. I heard voices coming from the door, and I think there may be more captured slaves in there."

"Well, let's go free them immediately!" said Hewkii.

"And make the slavers hate us even more? They might let _us_ go after the beating we gave their leader, but I doubt they'd let _all_ their slaves go," Jaller said.

"But we can't just leave them there," Hahli said forcefully. "We are Toa. We are heroes. If those were our friends down there, would we hesitate to set them free?" At this, all the Toa nodded in agreement.

"Right then, let's finish this," Jaller said as Hahli started to direct them to the cave.

_To be continued..._

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><p><strong>AN: Well, that took longer than intended to get up. Hope you liked. No guarantees on how soon chapter 3 will be up, but I _will _try to have it ready ASAP. Thanks for reading, and reviews appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3: Escape

3

"Fascinating," Nuparu mumbled as he ran his armored hand over the smooth outer wall of the prison. "In all my years as a miner, I've never seen stone like this before."

His contemplation was brutally shattered when Hewkii buried his fist in the wall, sending cracks along its entire surface. "Geek out later, o wise Scholar of the Dirt. We have people to save." He removed his fist and the wall crumbled. "But you're right; I haven't seen anything like this either." The Toa Mahri entered to find that the entire prison was made of the foreign stone.

Hahli shoved past the gawking Nuparu and Hewkii and moved to the nearest cage. "We're saved!" cried a man in the far back of the room. There were 10 cages total, each with about four or five people in them. Hahli started hacking at the bars of one with her claw. The metal only stood up to a few blows before shattering. The now-freed slaves quickly left the cage, thanking the Toa of water profusely.

Jaller moved to another and attempted to melt off the lock on the door. The Toa of fire was shocked when nothing happened. He tried again to summon his power, but failed once more. "Guys," he began, turning to the rest of his team as they continued opening cages. "I can't use my elemental power in here."

Hewkii tried to bring up a chunk of the strange stone floor, but he, too, failed. "Strange…"

"We can't worry about that now," Hahli said. "We need to get these people out now before the slavers come by."

"Right," confirmed Jaller, drawing his blade to finish the work. _But should we really not be worried that something exists that can cancel out our abilities...?_

The cage door flew open as he hacked away the lock. The people inside hurried out, but the last man stopped by Jaller. He grabbed the Toa's hand and whispered, "Thank you, kind warrior. You and I must speak later," before following the rest.

Soon, all the slaves were free and everyone rushed outside the prison and into the sunlight. Everyone shielded their eyes against the blinding rays as Jaller took charge. He stepped up onto a small bench in front of the crowd and said, "Okay everyone, my team and I are planning on heading north, and we'd like for you all to come with us to a safer place. Does anyone have any objections?"

"We should head east!" one man shouted, pointing in the appropriate direction. "The Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se, lies in that direction. Many refugees go there."

"Sounds like a good place to go to me. Any other ideas?" No one responded. "All right then, let's head out." Jaller stepped off the bench and was about to walk on when Kongu grabbed his arm. There was a troubled look in the Toa of air's eyes. "Hahli, will you lead everyone out?" She nodded and motioned for everyone to follow her as she headed into the desert.

When the group had passed, Kongu said, "Are you sure we can take all these people with us, Toa-brother? We stow-packed supplies for five, not 50."

"I'm confident we can pull it off, Kongu," Jaller reassured. "We've made it through worse things before."

"Yeah," Kongu replied with a bitter chuckle. "Thanks to the slavers that quick-captured us."

"What about the time in the Cord?"

"Nope, Mask of Life got us through that one."

"Hmmm, right. Kini Nui?"

"Stop it, Jaller. We may have been through worse, but we've _never_ had to do anything like this before."

Jaller sighed. "I know, but I'm willing to try to help these people anyway. Besides, I see it not as a matter of can or can't, but one of should or shouldn't."

Kongu nodded. "With that, I agree. I will go along with you, but I worry that not everyone will be as easy-lenient as me."

"I understand, brother. Thank you for bringing up your concerns. Input from you and the others is always valuable to me." They bumped fists and moved quickly to catch up with the rest of the group.

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><p>"... and that's how we ended up finding the prison you and your people were in," Nuparu said, finishing the story of him and his companions to the old man who'd wanted to speak to Jaller. They had conversed as a team with this man, trading information. He'd told them that his name was Rulom and that he was the leader of a small village, the entire population of which the Toa had just rescued from captivity. They had not only talked about each other's pasts, but about each other's worlds as well.<p>

"So this… Avatar," Jaller began. "You said he's really the only hope you have for being free of the Fire Nation?"

"Yes, I believe he is," Rulom replied. "There isn't a bender alive as powerful as he. Of course, it would have been better if he'd been around these last 100 years… But I'll gladly take an Avatar late over no Avatar at all."

"And do you know where he is?" Hahli asked.

"Last we heard, he and his friends were headed to the same city that we are now, Ba Sing Se. No one's really sure why he would go there, though."

"Perhaps to prepare an army, to march against the Fire Lord?" Kongu suggested.

"Mmm, perhaps. I suppose we may find out when we arrive."

"Do you plan on trying to return to your village, Rulom?" Hahli put in.

"Unfortunately, no. Cranin and his lackeys destroyed most of our buildings when he took us captive. If we returned and tried to rebuild, who knows what else would happen, what with the war still going on. No, I think it shall be safer for my people and I in the capital; no attack has breached it before, not even the Dragon of West's great siege. Now if you would excuse me, great Toa, I must speak with my people to make sure everyone is alright. I haven't spoken with my son since the prison…"

"Of course, my friend," Jaller replied. "And thank you again for telling us about your world." Rulom nodded and smiled at the team before moving to converse with a small group of men.

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><p>Night soon fell on the weary travellers. The group rested in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by sand, for the night. Kongu was given first watch and all slept peacefully under his vigil.<p>

He sat by a small fire he'd put together with the help of Jaller and looked to the moon above. It was beautiful, but quite different from the ones that orbited Spherus Magna. _New world, new moon, I suppose, _he thought. He moved his attention to the rest of the sky. It was getting rather cloudy in their area. _I wonder if it will heavy-rain…_ he wondered. But that wouldn't be a problem; he could always blow away the clouds if he needed to.

The Toa of air decided to experiment with this idea. He waved his hand gently toward the sky. A gust of air blew the distant clouds, allowing a few extra stars the shine through.

_How pitiful. I'm so bored that I've been reduced to playing with clouds._

"That's a pretty neat trick," said a voice from behind the Toa of air. Kongu was startled, but relaxed when he realized that it was only a boy he recognized as Rulom's son. "Can I join you over here?"

"Of course," he replied. "Shouldn't you be getting more rest-sleep though?"

The boy chuckled. "Nah, I woke up earlier and couldn't go back to sleep. Figured I'd just stay up and help keep watch." He extended his hand. "I'm Osus, by the way."

Kongu eyed the fleshy hand, decided that it would probably be best if he shook it, did so, and said, "I'm Kongu." They sat for a while in silence, listening to the sounds of the desert and the snores of their comrades. "So," Kongu began, "are you one of these _benders_?"

"I am. The first of my family in six generations." Osus replied. "Earth is my element, though I have yet to truly master it."

"I see. You may want to talk to my happy-good friend, Nuparu, about that. He knows a thing or two about the dirt. He's the one with the black and silver armor," Kongu said, pointing to the Toa of earth.

Osus smiled appreciatively. "I may have to take you — or rather him — up on that. Spirits know I could use some help. My father's crushed wagon is a testament to that."

"Sounds like an ever-exciting tale."

"Eh, it's more of a painful one for me. I received ample consequences for not practicing in a better spot than our small barn."

"I see. Well, what better place to practice than in the desert?" Kongu took a moment to listen to the sounds of the desert again. To his left, he thought he heard wind in the distance. He looked over and saw a large grey cloud that was low the ground. "What do you think-guess that is?"

"I'm not sure. Sandstorm?"

"Mmm." While that seemed likely enough, Kongu was still quite suspicious. He knew that sandstorms were usually caused by great winds, but he felt no such thing in that direction. This was no natural sandstorm. He got to his feet, concentrated hard, and sent a huge gust of air at the cloud. It reached across the great distance that separated the source and the target. When it finally hit, it blew the sand away to reveal several small mounted figures coming towards the watchers.

"They've found us…" Osus whispered.

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><p>Jaller's sweet slumber was rudely disturbed by someone yelling in his ear. "They're here, smelthead!" It was Kongu. Loud, irritating Kongu…<p>

"Who, windbag?" he mumbled sleepily.

"The slavers," answered the boy next to the Toa of air. Ah, Rulom's son… Osus? Yes, that was his-

Jaller's eyes snapped open. _They want their goods back… _"How close?"

"One kio maybe," said Kongu as he pointed in the direction of the approaching party. Jaller rose and saw the riders: looked to be about 15 mounted men headed their way.

"Get everyone up," the Toa of fire commanded. "We need to be ready when they arrive." In minutes, every person present was on their feet and attentive. Jaller clearly heard frightened mumbles and whispers. _I don't blame them. If they get captured again, they may experience a life worse than death. And I know death…_

Nuparu approached Jaller. "We can't fight them here. We may outnumber them, but they look like the better warriors, especially if they can manipulate the elements just like we can."

Jaller thought a moment. "You're right. Any suggestions?"

"There's a ring of dunes a little way to the north. If we can lead them that way, we may be able to ambush them."

"No specifics on that part of the plan?"

"Not yet."

Jaller nodded. "I don't have any better ideas. Let's try it." The noise of the crowd had escalated immensely during the Toa's conversation. Jaller tried to yell over the clamor, but it drowned him out. He decided to take a different approach: he lifted his flame sword in the air and shot off a column of flame. Every head turned immediately. _Now that I have your attention…_ "We are moving to those dunes to the north!" he commanded. "We will deal with this problem there. Understood?" No one spoke.

"Silence mean yes, let's go," said Nuparu as he walked past Jaller and toward the dunes. As he moved on, the crowd decided to follow and moved with him.

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><p>As the party entered the circle, the slavers disappeared from sight. Jaller found this a bit uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do about it. Nuparu had started moving up the eastern-most dune, the group still following. Jaller caught up to the Toa of earth and said, "You sure about all this?"<p>

"No, but I plan on improvising," Nuparu replied. They kept walking and crested the dune. Jaller could see that the slavers were definitely following them. He and Nuparu motioned for the people to stay low and hurry over the edge.

As the last person crested the dune, Jaller heard the slavers ride into the circle. A voice cried out, "Where are you, weevil-maggots!?" It was Cranin again. Jaller looked to Nuparu for some improvising. The Toa of earth donned a wicked smile and moved to an elderly man. He returned moments later wearing a large cloak that the man had lent to him.

"Here goes nothing…" Nuparu whispered as he moved to stand atop the dune. Jaller almost moved to stop him, but decided to trust his brother.

"Is it _I_ you seek, o beings of great stupidity?" Nuparu asked the slavers in his most booming voice, hood up, and cloak flowing spookily around him.

_Mata Nui help us… _Jaller thought.

_To be ccontinued..._

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><p><strong>AN: thanks for reading! I really appreciate it and would love to see a review from you. Thanks again, and I hope you've enjoyed the story.**


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